Functional Dentistry for Your Bite, Jaw and Sleep
Functional dentistry is care for how your bite, jaw joints and airway work together. At SMILES ON 35th, Dr. Rubecca Shahid measures your bite and screens your airway to find what links grinding, jaw pain, worn teeth and poor sleep.
If you're looking for functional dentistry in Seattle, our Sleep Solutions and bite care start with a comprehensive exam.
Symptoms that seem unrelated often aren't
Grinding, headaches, worn teeth and restless sleep can share one cause.
Maybe you wake with a sore jaw, your teeth are chipping at the edges, and your sleep tracker keeps flagging restless nights. They feel like separate problems, so they get treated one at a time, if at all.
Often, they're connected. An uneven bite overloads certain teeth and strains the jaw muscles. A narrow airway can disturb sleep and is linked to grinding. We measure your bite, look at your jaw joints in 3D and screen your airway, so the cause is clear before anything is recommended. Treatment then starts conservative and reversible.
See what your first visit includesWhich care fits your symptoms?
Each of these services answers a different concern. Your exam shows which ones will help.
Clear Aligners
Straighten teeth discreetly with clear aligners planned around a healthy bite, with fewer office visits and progress tracked from home.
Explore clear aligners
Sleep Apnea
For snoring, waking tired or trouble with CPAP: custom oral appliances for mild to moderate sleep apnea, with your sleep physician.
Explore sleep apnea care
Night Guards
A custom night guard made from a 3D scan: a simple, minimally invasive way to protect teeth from grinding.
Explore night guards
TMJ
For jaw pain, clicking or headaches: an evaluation of joints, muscles and bite, with gentle, reversible care first.
Explore TMJ care
TMJ Botox
When jaw muscles stay tight, Botox helps them relax, as part of a plan that also treats the bite.
Explore Botox for TMJ
Bite Correction
For worn, chipped teeth or dental work that keeps breaking: measure the bite and balance it, most conservative option first.
Explore bite correction
What finding the cause protects
When the bite, jaw and airway work well together, the rest of your mouth stops paying the price. Here's what that looks like.
A balanced bite spreads chewing forces evenly, so teeth stop wearing flat, chipping and cracking under strain, and more of your natural tooth stays for the decades ahead.
Treating what overloads the jaw muscles and joints, not just the soreness, gives them a chance to settle, so mornings start without a tight, aching jaw.
Airway screening and, when a sleep physician confirms sleep apnea, a custom oral appliance can mean quieter nights, more energy and care that supports your health for the long term.
Crowns, veneers and fillings placed on a stable bite are far less likely to break, so you're not repairing the same tooth twice.
Do any of these sound familiar?
A sore or tight jaw in the morning. Teeth that are wearing down, chipping, or breaking fillings. Headaches that start at your temples. Snoring that keeps your partner awake, or a sleep tracker that flags restless nights even when you're in bed for eight hours.
If one or more of these sounds familiar, our function and sleep care can help you find the connection and feel better.
Book your comprehensive exam
How function and sleep care works
Bite and airway assessment
We examine your teeth, jaw joints and muscles, map your bite digitally, and screen your airway.
3D imaging
A 3D view of your jaw joints and airway shows what a standard X-ray can't.
Find the connection
Dr. Shahid shows you what she found and how your symptoms link together.
Conservative care first
Guards, aligners and appliances come before anything permanent, with your sleep physician involved when sleep is part of the picture.
A gentle dentist who champions your lifelong health
Dr. Rubecca Shahid owns SMILES ON 35th in Wedgwood and leads your care herself, gently and with time to listen. Her own health struggles, then her mother's diagnosis, left her asking what the point of all our hard work is without the health to enjoy it. Longevity dentistry is her answer: care that protects your mouth and your health, so you can enjoy the life you're building.
Her care is conservative: she saves natural tooth wherever she can, chooses the least invasive option that will last, and recommends only treatment that truly helps you. When a tooth needs more, she shows you why. She is empathetic and thorough, with clear choices and no pressure.
She champions your long-term health and has trained to deliver on it. A Kois Center graduate, one of about 1,200 dentists worldwide, she completes nearly eight times the continuing education Washington requires every year. Her training spans prevention, function and sleep, restoration and smile design, so one dentist who knows you can plan each stage, close to home.
- Advanced training in diagnosis, treatment planning and bite stabilization from the Kois Center
- Biomimetic Dentistry Practitioner with mastership from the Alleman Center
- Member of American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine
- Member of American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry
I came to longevity dentistry through my own health journey, wanting to understand why problems start and how to prevent them. What I needed then is what I want for you now: more good years, a smile you feel good about, and a dentist who listens.
The tools and training behind function care
Measuring the bite and seeing the airway is what lets us connect symptoms. These are the specifics behind it.
Bite measured, not guessed
T-Scan digital bite analysis measures the timing and force of every contact. Most dentists rely on marking paper.
3D imaging in our office
CBCT imaging shows your jaw joints and airway in 3D at your visit.
Trained in function and sleep
Dr. Shahid is a Kois Center graduate and a member of the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine, trained in how the bite, jaw and airway work together.
Gentle, reversible care first
Guards, aligners and appliances come before anything permanent, and we work alongside sleep physicians.
What Our Patients Say About Us
Real experiences from patients who've discovered why our gentle care and comfortable atmosphere make dental visits something to look forward to.
Function and sleep questions
Grinding often has a cause, such as an uneven bite, stress, or breathing problems during sleep. We measure your bite and screen your airway to find which one applies, then protect your teeth with a custom guard while we treat it.
Yes. A sleep physician diagnoses sleep apnea, and a dentist trained in sleep care can treat mild to moderate obstructive sleep apnea with a custom oral appliance. We screen your airway at every comprehensive exam and work with your physician.
Jaw pain and clicking usually come from strain in the jaw joints and muscles, often linked to clenching, grinding or an uneven bite. An evaluation of the joints, muscles and bite shows where the strain starts.
Teeth usually wear down from an uneven bite, grinding, or acid from food and drinks. A digital map of your bite shows whether some teeth are taking more force than they should.
Functional dentistry is care for how your bite, jaw joints, muscles and airway work together. It aims to stop damage at the source, such as wear, fractures, jaw strain and disturbed sleep.
Other ways we protect your health
Function is one part of the picture. These pages cover prevention, repairing damage and designing a smile you love.
